Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer itself up, and the two women are on the cusp of their "real lives": Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, who is about to return from the war.

Soon the gilt begins to crack. Helena's husband is not the man he seemed to be, and Hughes has returned from the war distant, his inner light curtained over. On the brink of the 1960s, back at Tiger House, Nick and Helena - with their children, Daisy and Ed - try to recapture that sense of possibility. But when Daisy and Ed discover the victim of a brutal murder, the intrusion of violence causes everything to unravel. The members of the family spin out of their prescribed orbits, secrets come to light, and nothing about their lives will ever be the same. Brilliantly told from five points of view, with a magical elegance and suspenseful dark longing, Tigers in Red Weather is an unforgettable debut novel from a writer of extraordinary insight.

Whoa.

This story is amazing. Klaussman does an amazing job revealing the mental processes of each of her characters. They're all so unique and their voices really shine through the writing.

I love how real, how normal all the characters are. Well, normal in the sense that we all have secrets, we've all lied and cheated, done things we shouldn't have, have unfulfilled desires and a need to protect those we love... Normal.

This is definitely a book I'll be reading again and again. I fully recommend it to everyone.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

When Julia Elaine Newton, a young, pretty Ohio girl, volunteered to go on a mission to the Belgian Congo, she knew it was going to be a huge change. But she never expected to wind up teaching at an all-girls boarding school primarily populated by runaway child brides!

Much to her chagrin, Early Dusk was born beautiful. If only she'd been ugly, Big Chief Eagle would not have noticed her. Escaping an arranged marriage, the scrappy eight-year-old girl finds her way to Julia Newton and the school. But this time her jilted husband will not be denied.

It's up to Julia and Early Dusk to try to save the school as Congolese Independence looms and Big Chief Eagle embarks on his revenge. With the help of Cripple and her husband, and even Amanda Brown, these plucky women must learn to save themselves.

Such a lovely story.

I love the diversity and depth of the characters. Julia's frustrations and Buakane's confusion in their first days at the school are captured perfectly. And who couldn't love a child like Clementine!

The Girl Who Married An Eagle captivated me from the very beginning. But it was over far too fast. Just as things were getting going, poof it was all over. I wish the story had continued longer instead of jumping ahead so suddenly.

I fully recommend this book to those looking for a quick read that will thrust you into the heart of Africa with characters you will never forget.